Related Articles

Robert Vadra may not know, but in the suburbs of Lucknow, right in front of the Malhaur railway station, there is a school named after him. It is called Robert Wadera Public School. Never mind the spelling because Dr Yusuf Ali, school managing director, says he did not know the correct spelling when he decided to open the school. “Actually, I wanted to name it after Mahatma Gandhi, but the deputy registrar raised objections. An old friend said I could use some other recognisable name and I registered my society under the name of Robert Wadera Sewa Samiti some ten years ago,” said Dr Ali. On Sunday, the school celebrated its annual day. The chief guest was not some Congressman but local Samajwadi Party MLA Gomti Yadav who promised to get the road in front of the school constructed by March next year. “But I will try and approach Mr Wadera for next year’s annual function,” said Dr Ali.

English Vinglish

SP veteran Mohan Singh’s comment that Walmart cannot influence his party leaders as they don’t know English hasn’t gone down well with a section of the party. It is pointed out that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav got his engineering degree abroad, his wife Dimple studied at Lucknow University, then there are “Professor Ramgopal Yadav”, and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan, all comfortable with English language.

Proximity woes

Uma Bharti’s attempts to have a district BJP president in Mahoba — her constituency Charkhari falls in the district — from her own team has alienated local BJP leaders. Her representative Jitendra Sengar filed the nomination against sitting district president Chakrapani Tripathi in the organisational elections. An effort was made to select the district president by consensus. But when most partymen came out in Tripathi’s support, Sengar demanded voting, and lost. The election created much bitterness. When Uma Bharti recently visited Charkhari, neither district president Tripathi nor any other office-bearer was informed. Although Tripathi went to meet her on his own, other office-bearers kept a distance.

All for a beacon!

Last week, two busloads of Muslim clerics arrived from Meerut to meet Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. As usual, the chief minister asked them the purpose of their visit. Much to his surprise, the clerics said they wanted Mukesh Siddharth, a SP leader from Mawana area in Meerut, to be appointed chairman of the SC/ST Commission. That was rather unusual: Why should Muslim